The Food and Drug Administration reported yesterday that two more women have died after taking the RU-486 abortion pill, bringing to seven the number of fatalities associated with the drug since it was approved for use in 2000.
The agency said that it was investigating the new reports, provided by the manufacturer of the drug, but so far was not able to confirm any cause of death. In four earlier fatalities of California women who had undergone medical abortions, the victims died of a form of blood poisoning caused by Clostridium sordellii , a common but rarely fatal bacterium.Opponents of abortion quickly described the FDA advisory as another reason to ban the abortion pill, sold as Mifeprex.
"RU-486 is a deadly drug that is killing pregnant women," Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who has co-sponsored a bill to take the drug off the market pending a review, said in a statement. "This drug should never have been approved, and it must be suspended immediately."
But supporters said that the pill, which has been used worldwide for years, remains safe.
The FDA said yesterday that it did not know whether the clostridium bacteria played any role in the most recent deaths, but the agency did establish that it was present in four earlier fatalities. One other death related to medical abortion was in a woman who had an ectopic pregnancy -- a condition where RU-486 is not considered appropriate.
Opponents of medical abortion filed a citizen's petition with the FDA soon after the drug was approved for use, but the FDA has never acted on it. In addition, Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-Md.) introduced a bill in 2003 -- called Holly's Law, after Holly Patterson, an 18-year-old California woman who died following a medical abortion -- that would ban use of RU-486. The bill has 79 co-sponsors. Bartlett said yesterday that the maker of Mifeprex, Danco Laboratories LLC, should pull the drug from the market. If it refuses, he said, the FDA should force its withdrawal.